The global pandemic has presented Hong Kong’s tourism industry with unprecedented challenges. There is a need to upgrade tourism products, create new resources, and shape a more sustainable and innovative tourism ecosystem.
The synergy of culture and tourism will be the driving force behind this process and will significantly enhance the competitiveness of our tourism industry.
Cultural tourism is one of the fastest-growing segments of the tourism industry, accounting for an estimated 40 percent of all tourism worldwide. In addition to job creation, cultural tourism is employed as a strategy to safeguard culture and heritage, support education, foster a sense of national identity, and boost creative industries. It can also be leveraged in cultural diplomacy as a form of soft power to build dialogue between peoples.
Hong Kong possesses considerable cultural capital, reflecting its position as a point of convergence between East and West. This includes tangible and intangible cultural heritage, contemporary culture, festivals, a booming museum industry, and a vibrant art market. Hong Kong should take advantage of this to unleash the potential of cultural tourism as a key agent in support of the tourism sector. This will allow us to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic as a more resilient, sustainable and creative city.
Hong Kong has been given a new impetus to advance cultural tourism by the country’s 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25), which outlines the city’s emerging position as an East-meets-West center for international cultural exchange. In aid of this, the special administrative region government has committed itself to developing world-class cultural facilities and a pluralistic cultural environment, while strengthening its connections with overseas arts and culture organizations.
As one of the largest cultural infrastructure projects in the world, the West Kowloon Cultural District is set to play a major role in this. Blending traditional local culture with international and contemporary elements, the WKCD showcases the unique identity of Hong Kong as a vibrant hub for art and culture. It offers world-class integrated arts and cultural facilities, including M+, a global museum of contemporary visual culture that opened in November, and the Hong Kong Palace Museum, which will showcase the finest art objects from the Palace Museum after it opens in July. The two museums, together with various performing arts venues which are already open, will put Hong Kong on the world’s cultural map.
In addition to displaying extraordinary collections, the M+ and HKPM will present blockbuster exhibitions in partnership with the world’s best museums, bringing their masterpieces to Hong Kong. The museums will welcome 5 million visitors a year, over 40 percent of whom will visit once the border has reopened. Located within a 15-minute walk from the high-speed rail terminus, these museums will boost both domestic tourism and inbound tourism from the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.
The number of tourists and tourism revenue in the GBA increased more than five times between 2005 and 2017. In 2017, the combined tourism market of the GBA was valued at $170 billion — one-fifth of China’s total. The 14th Five-Year Plan sets out a strong vision for developing the GBA into a world-class tourism destination with integrated culture and tourism industries. The cities in the GBA should consolidate resources, marketing and brand creation to enhance cooperation. They should also leverage the GBA’s rich cultural heritage to develop more diversified and value-added products to promote cultural tourism and strengthen the GBA’s brand as a premier tourist destination in Asia.
Given its competitive edge and bright prospects in art and cultural development, Hong Kong should deepen its integration into the GBA. This will allow it to contribute to the development of cultural tourism in the area, promote multidestination tourism products, and cultivate the international visitor source market. Three strategic focuses will help strengthen Hong Kong’s position as an international cultural tourism hub.
First, in addition to international art fairs, Hong Kong should host an art biennial — a large-scale international contemporary art exhibition like the Venice Biennial that showcases the work of artists from Asia and around the globe. Cultural mega events like this will create an opportunity for Hong Kong to demonstrate its achievements, promote its image on the world stage, and attract overseas tourists.
Second, we should move from “place marketing” to “placemaking” and develop creative tourism to supplement and enhance cultural tourism. In creative tourism, tourists are actively involved in experimental learning and interactive activities to better experience the authentic culture of the places they visit. They are also given opportunities to develop their creative potential through co-creating experiences with local people.
Third, new technologies should be used to support engaging experiences related to cultural tourism. In recent years there has been a shift away from tangible heritage-based experiences toward more intangible and creative forms of content. Such content is increasingly delivered digitally, which can improve the integration of culture, tourism, and technology. A smart tourism approach using these methods will be an effective means of branding and storytelling and will potentially provide richer information and interpretation for visitors.
Hong Kong’s tourism industry must grasp new opportunities if it is to deal with the current crisis. The integration of culture, tourism, and technology is a crucial element of this, and will become an important engine for developing a sustainable tourism industry in the future.
The author is the director of the Hong Kong Palace Museum.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.